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Asus K42Jc
Introduction
This is a compaitibility guide to running Linux with the Asus K42Jc laptop.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Asus K42Jc. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Asus K42Jc page on LapWik.
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Specifications
For full specifications see the Asus K42Jc specifications page.
| Name | Asus K42Jc |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 540M/520M/430M : 2.53 GHz - 2.26 GHz, with Turbo Boost up to 3.06/2.93/2.53 GHz; Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 350M/330M : 2.6 GHz - 2.13 GHz, |
| Screen | 14” (1366×768) Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| HDD | 250GB to 640GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet 802.11 b/g/n |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Works | |
| Screen | Works | |
| HDD | Works | |
| Optical Drive | Works | |
| Graphics | Partial | See the notes section for details. |
| Sound | Works | |
| Ethernet | Works | |
| Wireless | Works | |
| USB | Works | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| Webcam | Not Tested |
Notes
This laptop was tested with Ubuntu 10.04. Everything work very well out of the box except for the graphics component.
Graphics
The K42Jc includes the switchable graphics feature so has both an Intel and a NVIDIA graphics chip inside. Unfortunately Linux does not support such a configuration at this stage which means you are forced to use only the Intel graphics.
Do not install the proprietary NVIDIA drivers, doing so will cause the system to boot with just a blank screen visible. Even pressing CTRL-ALT-F1 etc. doesn't bring up a display, however the system still functions as you can press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the computer.
Summary
The switchable graphics is a problem with the Asus K42Jc as it stops you from using the NVIDIA component. Work is being done to support this which may be made available in Ubuntu 10.10 but we will have to wait and see on that. Other than that this laptop worked well with Ubuntu 10.04, everything else worked out of the box.
Discussion
Thanks rduke. Now I can suspend!
I got this laptop to suspend/resume by unloading the usb drivers.
Add this script to /etc/pm/sleep.d, call it something like 20_custom-ehci_hcd and make it executable:
BUSES="0000:00:1a.0 0000:00:1d.0" case "${1}" in hibernate|suspend) for bus in $BUSES; do echo -n $bus | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ehci_hcd/unbind done ;; resume|thaw) for bus in $BUSES; do echo -n $bus | tee /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ehci_hcd/bind done ;; esacWhen I press Fn+F2, My bluetooth and wireless can't deactivate…
Do you have problems hibernating or suspending? Mine will fail when I try to hibernate or suspend to a low power state. Not sure what is going on but when trying to resume all I get is a black screen and have to hard reboot which I am sure is not good. Consequently, I had to disable those actions in the power settings.
Ya, i have that same problem and don't know what to do. Is this a place where people post solutions to things like that?
Also, the standard settings to disable the touch-pad from left clicking until 2 seconds after typing, that doesn't work. At least on mine, when I look at the devices, it shows up as a mac touch-pad and regardless of what I do, the pad is so sensitive I have an incredibly difficult time typing without my cursor jumping me all over.
What about the audio jack? The laptop has an audio socket that is both a audio in and out. I cannot get any sound through headphones.